Bruno Bocchini
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Coffee production in Brazil should amount to 32.46 million sacks in the upcoming harvest (2005-2006). This represents 16.1% less than the 38.6 million sacks gathered in the last harvest (2004-2005). The data, released on Friday (22), are from the National Supply Company's (Conab) second estimate of the 2005-2006 coffee harvest.

According to the Conab, the reasons for the decline are the reduced production of sacks of Arabic coffee, as a result of the natural variation in coffee harvests - higher one year and lower the next -, climatic adversities, and smaller utilization of fertilizers and pesticides, for lack of resources.

According to Vilmondes Olegário, director of the Coffee Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, the drop in coffee production volume, however, can help sustain price levels.

Translation: David Silberstein